Fitness Rated Virtual Reality Games – ‘Exercise with VR and Get Fit’

One of the way Virtual Reality Technology would change the world is, by bringing us deeper into their virtual worlds and letting us move around and interact with them. VR games let your body engage with the virtual world, not just your imagination, and in turn, it is giving gamers an excuse to be active sometimes, without them even realizing it.

The VR Health Institute recently launched the VR Exercise Rating system, which grades VR games for their physical activity level. VR Exercise ratings range from Resting (seated games that burn less than two calories per minute) and Sprinting (active games that burn 15+ calories per minute). The VR Institute uses sophisticated testing equipment to measure the oxygen intake rate of gamers while playing to determine the intensity rating of each game. If you want to add more activity to your lifestyle, but the idea of going to the gym doesn’t appeal to you, the following VR games are the answer.

The VR Health Rating System: VR games range in activity level from sedentary seated experiences to highly active room-scale games. The VR Health Institute’s VR Exercise Rating separates titles into eight different activity levels that help give perspective to how much energy the average person would expel while playing different games.

Swimming: Very high activity level, comparable to doing the butterfly stroke in competitive swimming. Burns 12-14 calories per minute.

Sprinting: Rigorous activity level, comparable to sprinting up stairs. Burns more than 14 calories per minute

Job Simulator: Job Simulator is one of the most well known and highly regarded VR games to date. Owlchemy Labs had the privilege of being one of the first developers with access to Vive development hardware, and Job Simulator was one of the games that HTC bundled with pre-ordered Vive headsets.

The game is set in a future where robots do all the work, and people use the Job Simulator so they can “remember what it’s like to job.” The game features four scenes in which you’re thrown into different job simulations, such as an office worker, an auto mechanic, a short order cook, and a convenience store clerk.

Job Simulator isn’t the most active VR game available. In fact, it’s the least active VR game that the VR Institute has rated, so far. But you would still expel more energy playing Job Sim than you would while playing a seated game. Don’t expect to drop a belt size or two from pretending to be a “productive” office worker, but it’s better than sitting on the couch all day.

QuiVrPicture: QuiVr is a first-person bow-and-arrow tower defense shooter that features simulated physics modeled from real bows. You must use your archery skills to defend your keep from constantly advancing foes.
QuiVr features a single player mode and a drop-in/drop-out multiplayer mode that lets you play with friends. You’ll also find global, weekly leaderboards so you can compare your best scores with everyone else who’s played the game.
The VR Health Institute gave the Walking rating to QuiVr, which puts it at the low end of the fitness scale. The company said that this is a preliminary rating, as they didn’t use the oxygen consumption test to measure this game. The VR Health Institute uses a heart rate monitor to measure the workout level of QuiVr. We haven’t tried QuiVr, so we can’t say how accurate the rating would be. However, gameplay videos suggest that the game doesn’t demand that you move around rapidly.

Climbey: As you may have guessed from the name, Climbey is a virtual reality climbing game. The point is to reach the top of the map as fast as you can. Climbey offers online multiplayer, which enhances the excitement by adding a competitive level to the game. Racing your friends to the top is sure to get your blood flowing. Climbey features a form of arm-swinger locomotion to navigate the virtual world. To move, you reach out and grab the virtual environment and pull yourself forward. The harder and faster you pull, the quicker you’ll move through the world.
The VR Health Institute’s test results showed that Climbey should burn roughly three calories per minute, which puts it on pace with walking. You probably won’t break much of a sweat playing Climbey unless you get really into it, but the constant arm swinging still burns more energy than sitting at your desk.

Vanishing Realms: Vanishing Realms is a first-person dungeon crawler for the HTC Vive. The game features a selection of weapons, including swords, maces, and a bow with arrows, and it features hand-to-hand combat against life-sized magic skeletons. The gameplay isn’t incredibly demanding, but the ducking, dodging, and swinging that you must do to play the game effectively can get your heart pumping. The VR Health Institute rates Vanishing Realms near the bottom end of the fitness scale, but we reckon the game’s second chapter would offer a better workout than the first. The first chapter of Vanishing Realms features mild action with enemies that are few and far between. The second chapter is somewhat of a gauntlet run, where you must face 10 successive waves of enemies without succumbing to their attacks. If you die, you restart the gauntlet from the first wave. Vanishing Realms launched in Early Access alongside the HTC Vive. The game is still in early access, and the developer doesn’t have a definitive release date planned for the full release.

Tilt Brush: Most people wouldn’t consider Tilt Brush to be even a mild workout, but the VR Health Institute pegs it as mild exercise, akin to walking. The three-dimensional art application gets you up on your feet and moving your arms around to draw in 3D space. Tilt Brush lets you draw as high in the air as you can reach and as a far out in the distance as you could ever want. The light, easy-going actions one would perform within Tilt Brush don’t expel much energy, but drawing in Tilt Brush is more active than traditional drawing. Don’t expect to break a sweat drawing in VR, but an hour in Tilt Brush would burn a comparable number of calories to an hour-long casual walk.

Raw Data: It’s no surprise that Survios’ Raw Data is on the VR Health Institute’s VR Exercise Rating list. However, we would have expected the title to offer a more rigorous workout. Survios was one of the first developers to coin the term “active VR,” and the company put all its efforts into creating an exciting, active gaming experience. We’ve played Raw Data several times, and it’s always left us with our hearts racing and lungs pumping. The VR Health Institute compares the workout from Raw Data to that of a typical walk, but we would suggest that the level of physical excursion would depend on your weapon selection. Raw Data offers fast-paced, thrilling first-person combat action with firearms and melee weapons. You can wield a shotgun, dual pistols, or a sword, and the gaming experience depends upon your weapon selection. A player packing dual pistols would experience a lighter workout than a player wielding a sword, for example.

Rec Room: Rec Room is another game that would offer a variable workout level. It’s a virtual reality community club that offers a variety of activities for you to participate in, including charades, dodgeball, basketball, and paintball. The type of activity that you select affects the level of exercise you would get. The VR Health Institute rated Rec Room as the equivalent to walking, which is likely accurate for most activities within the virtual community club. You could burn somewhat more calories if you get into a really good match of Rec Room paintball, though.

SuperHot: SuperHot VR is the virtual reality adaption of the critically acclaimed first-person shooter with the same name. SuperHot VR offers a unique time-freeze mechanic that adds a level of strategy to your movements. In SuperHot VR, when you move, time moves; when you stand still, time does, too. Despite the time-freezing element, SuperHot VR is a fast-paced game. You can take micro-breaks in between the action, but when the time is moving, you must be cognizant of where your foes are and what projectiles are coming your way. SuperHot VR also allows you to punch your enemies if they get too close to you or you run out of ammo. SuperHot VR received the Walking rating from the VR Health Institute, but it’s at the top of the walking scale. The VR Health Institute said that playing SuperHot VR would burn just over four calories per minute, which isn’t far off from the Elliptical rating. Playing SuperHot VR is more akin to a brisk walk than a relaxed stroll.

VirZoom Arcade: The VirZoom Arcade is a collection of VR games that work with the VirZoom Bike and VZ Sensor exercise bike attachment. VirZoom Arcade features five free VR games, including a horse back riding game, an F1 racing game, and a helicopter flying game, among others. The VR Health Institute rated VirZoom Arcade as the equivalent of an elliptical trainer, which is curious because it uses an actual exercise bike, so you would expect the exercise to level to be comparable with cycling. If you own an exercise bike and a VR headset, you could combine the two with the VZ Sensor for a more entertaining workout.

Arcade Saga: Arcade Saga features three games in one. The title includes Fracture, which is VR adaptation of the classic 2D brick breaker games; Smash, which is a tennis-like game that takes place in a long corridor; and Bowshot, in which you must kill everything in your path with a bow and arrow. Arcade Saga features 360-degree gameplay with spatial audio to alert you of potential danger outside of your field of view. It also includes leaderboards so you can compete against other players for the highest score. Arcade Saga offers a slightly more rigorous workout than SuperHot, with an average of 4.12 to 4.4 calories burned per minute. The higher caloric burn rate bumps Arcade Saga into the Elliptical rating from the VR Health Institute.

Gorn: Gorn is the type of game in which you could burn a lot of calories without even realizing it. It puts you in the center of a gladiator ring where you fight for your life against big burly strongmen. The game features over-the-top cartoon violence and gore that will leave you giggling while you flail your arms around like a maniac trying to fend off your enemies. The VR Health Institute rates Gorn as a comparable workout to using an elliptical machine. Twenty minutes of severing virtual limbs with virtual swords and virtual morning stars will get most people sweating.

Fruit Ninja VR: Fruit Ninja in VR is exactly what you think it is: Halbrick Studios took its wildly successful smartphone game of the same name and ported it to standing-scale VR. In Fruit Ninja VR, you get two swords and a limited amount of time to cut as many pieces of flying fruit that you can. Because you’re racing against the clock, the gameplay feels more intense than it really is, but swinging two fake swords back and forth rapidly can really get your heart racing. The VR Health Institute said that Fruit Ninja offers a comparable workout to using elliptical equipment.

Sword Master VR: Sword Master VR is, as the name suggests, a sword fighting game for virtual reality. The game starts off easy, with one style of sword and simple foes to cut down to size. As you progress through the challenges, Sword Master VR gets harder and harder. Sometimes you’ll fight single enemies; sometimes you’ll face two at a time.
With each progressive level, you’ll unlock new weapons that demand different skill sets and playstyles. No matter which weapon you chose, expect to move around a lot. The VR Health Institute gave Sword Master VR the Elliptical rating, but you should expect to expel more energy in a 10-minute run of this title than Gorn or Fruit Ninja.

Drunkn Bar Fight: Drunkn Bar Fight is one of those games that is so bad, it’s good. The concept of the game is, simply, that you’re at a bar full of rowdy, brawling drunks, and you have to fight your way through the crowd.
Drunkn Bar Fight isn’t a simulation game, but it requires you to throw repeated punches at the liquored-up idiots that keep coming at you. The key to winning the fight is to make sure you’re as drunk (or moreso) than your opponent. The more you drink, the stronger you feel. The VR Health Institute gave Drunkn Bar Fight the Elliptical rating, but the company said that it’s just a preliminary rating because the game was tested with a heart rate monitor, not an oxygen consumption monitor. The VR Health Institute calculated that its test subject burned nearly five calories per minute while playing Drunkn Bar Fight

GoalKeepVR: GoalKeepVR is like a virtual batting cage for soccer goalies. The game features eight different play modes, which modify the gameplay by increasing the speed that balls are sent your way, alternating which hand you can block with, or by shrinking your hands every round to increase the difficulty.
When you break it down, though, GoalKeepVR is about blocking soccer balls and not much more, but despite the simple concept, playing it requires a fair bit of energy. The VR Institute gave GoalKeepVR the Elliptical rating, which indicates a caloric burn of four to six calories per minute. GoalKeepVR lands in the mid-to-high end of the Elliptical rating.

Space Pirate Trainer: Space Pirate Trainer is an action-packed first-person arcade shooter. I-Illusions created Space Pirate Trainer to take advantage of the unique capabilities of room-scale VR. The game puts you on a platform in space, armed with two selectable-ammo pistols and a mandate to defend your position at all costs. The first few levels of Space Pirate Trainer are fairly mild and likely won’t make you break a sweat, but if you’re half decent at the game, you’ll be moving around like you would in a real-world dodgeball game. The VR Health Institute rated Space Pirate Trainer as an equivalent workout to using elliptical equipment. However, top players should get a higher-intensity workout, as the difficulty ramps up significantly once you get past level 15, which is easier said than done.

Bitslap: Bitslap is a fast-paced game that will push the limits of your reaction time while challenging your physical and mental abilities. You must destroy cubes that spawn in front of you as fast as they appear. But there’s a catch; you must destroy them in the order that they appear. If you hit the cubes out of order, they won’t break. It’s hard to describe how intense Bitslap is, but the trailer gives you a good perspective of the pace in the game. Let’s put it this way: You probably can’t move as fast as the game wants you to. Bitslap has the bonus of being able to support third-party music files, so you can listen to your favorite workout playlist while you play. Bitslap isn’t an intense workout, but it will get your heart pumping. The VR Institute gave the game the Elliptical rating, but this one falls on the higher end of that category. An average-sized person can expect to burn more than five calories per minute playing Bitslap.

Racket: NX: Racket: NX is a combination between racketball and a brick-breaker game. It features fast-paced, competitive action and arcade-inspired gameplay. Using a racket, you hit a ball into the grid that surrounds you to score points and gain higher scores by hitting multiplier grids. The VR Health Institute gave Racket: NX the Elliptical exercise rating, but the workout you can get out of the game is almost as intense as playing a game of Tennis.

Fastest Fist: Fastest Fist is a virtual reality boxing training game. You won’t be facing opponents in the ring, but your virtual trainer is going to get you ready for a fight anyway. Fastest Fist puts you through a rigorous training exercise that will help you develop your punching, dodging, and blocking techniques, as well as improve your reaction time. It’s a high-intensity game, and you can expect to get a solid workout while playing. The VR Health Institute’s test subject burned upwards of six calories per minute and peaked at eight calories per minute. Even the developer of the game warns that the gameplay gets intense and that you should take a breather once in a while.

Hot Squat: Hot Squat is a virtual reality fitness game with a rigorous competitive twist. The whole purpose of the game is to perform as many squats as you can. The game offers leaderboards so you can compete against your friends, family, and the rest of the world. Hot Squat features an endless challenge, so you’re always pushed to the limit of your ability. The game also offers 11 Steam achievements to unlock. The VR Health Institute gave Hot Squat the Tennis rating, with roughly seven calories burned per minute. Hot Squat may burn the same level of energy as tennis, but it’s a different kind of workout. If you have trouble with your knees or your hips, this title might not be the best choice of workout.

Audioshield: Audioshield was one of the original launch titles for the HTC Vive, and it was one of the first rhythm games to reach the VR medium. With an orange shield in your right hand and a blue one in your left, you punch the corresponding colored ball as it flies towards you timed to the beat. The standard version of Audioshield can provide a reasonable workout when you play an upbeat song at the highest difficulty. It’s also possible to edit the configuration files to increase the intensity of the gameplay. The VR Health Institute said that playing the standard version of Audioshield can consume as much energy as using a rowing machine. Lower difficulties of Audioshield are comparable to elliptical training. Modified versions of the game can offer more intense workouts.

Knockout League: If you’re old enough to remember Punch Out for the Nintendo Entertainment System, you’re going to get a kick out of the arcade boxing game Knockout League. However, if you’re going to play this game, you might want to bring a sweat rag with you. Knockout League is a made-for-VR boxing title in which you’ll use your entire body. You’ll have to throw punches, dodge fists, and block the blows that would otherwise hit you. It’s a pretty intense workout. The VR Institute gave the game the Rowing rating, which should burn at least eight calories per minute.

Holopoint: Holopoint is a high-intensity archery game that forces you to move quickly and pushes your reflexes to their limits. Holopoint doesn’t have a locomotion system; your movement is limited to your tracked play space. You must stand your ground and defend yourself from wave after wave of targets and enemies. In the beginning, you shoot stationary targets before they explode and fire a projectile at you. The targets spawn in random locations in front, beside, behind, and above you. If you don’t hit the target, you’ll be hit by shrapnel. The catch is you have to avoid the flying debris even when you hit your target, so you must be ready to duck and dodge as soon as your arrow hits its mark. As you progress through the levels, you will face sword-wielding samurai and clever ninjas that sneak up on you. The VR Health Institute compares the calorie burn from playing Holopoint to that of competitive swimming. We can say from experience that if nothing else, this game will get your heart racing and adrenaline coursing through your veins.

Thrill of the Fight: Thrill of the Fight is a room-scale VR boxing game that puts an emphasis on moving around. The game supports forward-facing configurations for Oculus Rift support, but you need at least 2 x 2m of tracked space to play it effectively. In this action-packed boxing game, you have to train and fight your way to the top of the boxing world. Thrill of the Fight is a “semi-sim” with a combination of realistic mechanics where possible and simplified mechanics to make it easy and fun to play. The VR Health Institute assigned Thrill of the Fight the highest VR exercise rating that the organization offers. If you’re looking for a significant cardio workout to help you burn a lot of energy in a short period of time, Thrill of the Fight is the best option available in a VR game. Before you play this game, you may want to consider upgrading the foam on your VR headset with a waterproof version from VR Cover.